Engineers: Public Perception Matters

Written By: Norman Augustine, IEEE Life Fellow and Retired Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin

Norman Augustine

If students have a negative impression – or no impression at all—of science, then they’re hardly likely to choose it as a profession. Already, 70 percent of engineers with Ph.D.s who graduate from U.S. universities are foreign born. Worse, these talented individuals are not staying in the U.S. as they used to. They’re returning to their home countries because that’s where they find the greatest opportunities.

In many countries, scientists and engineers are not seen as geeks and nerds, as they all too often are in the U.S., but as society’s leaders and innovators. In China, eight of the top nine political posts are held by engineers. In the U.S., however, almost no engineers or scientists are engaged in high-level politics, and there is a virtual absence of engineers in our public policy debates.

In a global, knowledge-driven economy, there is a direct correlation between engineering, education and innovation. Our success or failure as a nation will be measured by how well we do with the innovation agenda. By how well we are able to advance medical research, create game-changing devices, and improve the world.

I am active in organizations like the IEEE to help raise the profile of the engineering community and ensure our voice is heard in key public policy decisions. That’s why I am also passionate about the way engineering should be taught as a profession – not as a collection of technical knowledge, but as a diverse educational experience that produces broad thinkers who appreciate the critical links between technology and society.

Many nations have rightly concluded that the way to win in the world economy is by doing a better job of educating and innovating. And America? We’re losing our edge. Innovation is something we’ve always been good at. Until now, we’ve been the undisputed leaders when it comes to finding new ideas through basic research, translating those ideas into products through world-class engineering, and getting to market first through aggressive entrepreneurship. We know the formula. All that remains to do is to follow it.